The failing US patent system is getting ever more mainstream - The New York Times is running a long and details piece on the failings of the system, especially in relation to the technology industry most of us hold so dearly. Most of the stuff in there isn't new to us - but there's two things in the article I want to highlight.

In all honesty I think that abolishing the patent system would make things more difficult for small bussinesses. Large companies have so much money they can easily copy and obscurate a start-up.

No, what needs changing are the patent offices. The patent offices should start only granting patents for non-trivial idea's. (( Non-trivial could be defined as requiring considerable R&D costs ).

Lastly, we should not grant different property rights to different individuals and companies according to what gives us the most economic gain. An individual's ideas should be as much their property as their house. Equality matters.